Interview: The Cast of Crank

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Jason Statham, Amy Smart and Efren Ramirez.

By Stax

IGN recently attended a roundtable interview in Los Angeles for the upcoming Lionsgate thriller Crank where we got the opportunity to speak with three of the film's stars, Jason Statham, Amy Smart and Efren Ramirez.

Crank, directed by first-timers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, follows Chev Chelios (Statham), a hitman who freelances for a major West Coast syndicate, who has been poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live. The only way to prolong the poison from stopping his heart is to keep his adrenaline flowing. Chev's desperate bid to survive soon pulls his unsuspecting girlfriend Eve (Smart) and his cross-dressing pal-informant Kaylo (Ramirez) into the fray.

Q: Was the irreverent sense of humor in Crank a draw for you?

JASON STATHAM: I was a little worried about it, to be honest. Here's a guy who has to inconsiderately step all over everybody to some degree. But when you realize it's the only thing he has left, it becomes kind of a comical escapade. It's sick and twisted. It's much more funny than I originally anticipated it would be.

Q: Did you improvise any bits?

STATHAM: We had a lot of time, because basically they were shooting on these HD cameras. The set-ups are very quick. The lighting is already done most of the time. They just keep the tape rolling. You don't get that whole, "OK, sound, speed, rolling, action." It just comes on in different directions, as they go. Both Brian and Mark operate cameras as well as write the thing. They're kind of editing as they go along in their heads. And so, we had lots of time to improvise. Once they got what they wanted, they were like just do something strange and weird. We had tons of time and tons of things that worked and things that didn't work. I suppose that's the beauty of editing. They get to sift out all the good stuff and try to leave the bad stuff.

Q: Did you do all of your own stunts?

STATHAM: I pretty much did everything, yeah. I'm trying to think what I didn't do. I did every (expletive) thing. I do enjoy most crazy activities. I get a big thrill out of doing my own stuff. I think it separates me from most of the other Hollywood action guys. I spent years and years as an athlete learning how to do stuff. It's a little [something] that I kept in my back pocket. I never thought I'd get involved in action movies. I was given a start by Guy Ritchie, he was making not so much action movies, but black comedy dramas. That sort of gave me a shot at expressing a view of mine, my hidden capabilities. Once I was given a chance to do it, I love that kind of stuff. I was a high diver for years. So for me to climb up in a rig and fall backwards 200 feet and over a concrete floor, once Neveldine was there with the camera, that was a chance not to miss. That also includes hanging out of a helicopter 3,000 feet above downtown L.A.

Q: How was doing that scene?

STATHAM: I was very nervous. That's where the adrenaline sort of kicks in. You wouldn't get the thrill if you weren't nervous. That's what people chase, these adrenaline junkies. They're looking for the big thrill and elevated heart rate. I certainly got that when I stepped on to the skids of the helicopter. Because it wasn't as if we were taking off the ground. We were around on top of a building, which is several hundred feet above ground level anyway. Once that takes off, and you look down and see how high you are and hear the chopper blades and noise, and there's a lot of fuel burning. There's a lot of wind and you've got a loose rig enabling you to do all the action that's planned out. It all gets a bit much. But you soon get a grasp of it because you have to. I suppose that's where the focus comes in. That's where the feeling of an achievement comes at the end, and you feel really good about what you've done. Not everybody's doing that kind of stuff. Most of the action that we shot was through the camera lens. We didn't leave anything to green screen. And we didn't have the luxury of millions and millions of dollars to make this film. In a way, I think we made something rather different. I think it shows. You can tell I'm really up there doing the stuff.

Jason Statham as Chev Chelios; click for more pics from Crank.

Q: You don't get vertigo?

STATHAM: No, you get a funny feeling in your stomach. It's not a sickly feeling. But I mean it was really weird, because you've told everyone days and days in advance that you're going to do it. So there's no backing out. You can't just go I've got a bad thumb. I'll do this another day. It's kind of a deadline in you; once you commit, you commit. Anything you've never done before, there's a certain amount of apprehension that's going to stick to you. Same thing with the Descender rig. We had this rig that drops you down at freefall pace and slows down just before it hits the ground. That was the transition from pulling out of the chopper to actually hitting the ground. That was also very scary. You don't know how fast it's going to go. You start feet down and you don't know how fast it's going to go. Anything that's new for the first time is always a bit of a thrill. In for a penny a pound, I like this kind of stuff.

Q: Did you like doing the sex scene?

STATHAM: I'm partial to a little bit of sex, yes. But not in front of 250 people. It's embarrassing, it's exciting. It's all the things that you don't normally get in your own bedroom. We did a lot of crazy things in this movie. I kind of got my cue from Bryan and Mark, who were much madder than me. You can't really say no to these guys because they're so enthusiastic. They have a real sense of luring you into their mad world. I said yeah, I'll put on a hospital gown and run around. That's lovely.

Q: How did Mark and Brian convince you they were the right ones to direct?

STATHAM: I was up in Vancouver shooting a film and they came up. I read the script and I was curious how they were going to film the sex scene. It was just so way out that I wanted to know how they were going to film it all and how they were going to approach this sort of selfish character. They sold me. I saw their show reel. It was a visual (expletive) masterpiece. They've got such a good energy. This whole movie is a fast-paced, very energized movie. They fit the bill to do this kind of film.

Q: Did you think it was going to be a rough shoot?

STATHAM: Yeah. At times, it can be quite difficult to make a decision. High reward comes from high risk. You've got to take a chance. Some of their explanations for some of the things, I was like you know what, you've got something, I know you two have got something. I think it worked.